Mike Tyson
Michael Gerard "Mike" Tyson (born June 30, 1966) is a retired American professional boxer. Tyson was the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world and currently holds the world record as the youngest boxer in boxing history to win the WBC, WBA, and IBF world heavyweight titles. He won the WBC when he was just 20 years, 4 months, and 22 days old, after defeating Trevor Berbick by a TKO in the second round. Throughout his career, Tyson became well-known and famous for his ferocious and intimidating Boxing style as well as his controversial behaviour both inside and outside the ring - particularly amongst mainstream media. Nicknamed "Kid Dynamite" durng his early professional career, and during his prime onwards as "Iron Mike" and "The Baddest Man on the Planet", Tyson won his first 19 professional bouts by knockout, with 12 of them occuring in the first round. He unified the belts in the splintered heavyweight division in the late 1980's to become the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world. Tyson became the lineal champion when he knocked out Michael Spinks in the first 91 seconds of the fight. Tyson eventually lost all three of his titles to 42-to-1 underdog James "Buster" Douglas on February 11, 1990, in Tokyo, Japan, by a knockout in round 10 - his first loss during his career after a total of 37 successful won fights. After his first loss in 1990, he went on to fight three more Boxers, winning against them all - Henry Tillman (KO), Alex Stewart (TKO), and Donovan Ruddock twice (TKO, with the rematch won by Tyson with an UD/Decision). However, in 1992, Tyson was convicted of raping Desiree Washington, for which he was sentanced to six years in prison but was released after serving three years. After been released from prison in 1995, he engaged in a series of comeback fights. He regained a portion of the heavyweight title, before losing it to Evander Holyfield in a 1996 fight by an 11th round TKO. Their 1997 rematch ended when Tyson was disqualified for biting off a part of Holyfield's ear - Mike claiming he did this because Evander was headbutting him while angry because the referee was doing nothing. He eventually fought for a championship again at 35, losing by knockout to Lennox Lewis in 2002. Tyson declared bankruptcy in 2003, despite receiving over US$30 million for several of his fights and $300 million during his career. Tyson is considered to be one of the greatest heavyweight boxers of all time. He was also inducted into the Boxing Hall of Fame. He is also known for fighting other great heavyweight boxers such as Lennox Lewis, Trevor Berbick (who defeated Muhammad Ali at the end of Ali's career), Michael Spinks, and Evander Holyfield. Tyson is also the only heavyweight boxer to individually unify the WBC, WBA and IBF titles. thumb|left|300px|Mike Tyson Highlight Reel Training He is ranked #16 on Ring Magazine's list of 100 greatest punchers of all time. He was famous during the later stages of his professional career for his trademark black boxing shorts, which he wore in honor of his trainer and guardian - Cus D'Amato after his death in 1986. He was also notorious for approaching the ring while wearing a white towel with a cut hole over his head instead of the traditional boxing robes. At the end of his professional career, Tyson amassed a total of 58 fights - winning 50 of them (44 by knockout, 1 Disqualification from his opponent, and 5 by decision). Suffering 6 losses (1 of them including a disqualification from himself, with the remaining 5 lost by knockout). The remaining two fights of his career were NC (No contest). Tyson appears in two of the Fight Night series of video games. This includes Fight Night Round 4 and the newest Fight Night Champion. He is a selectable heavyweight boxer that is available for usage in Legacy Mode, Online, or as a regular quick exhibition match agianst the AI/2-player. Tyson's actual boxing style is well mimicked in these games. He appears as a heavyweight in all of the games. Boxing Style Tyson was famous f or his ability to knockout his opponents very quickly - within the first three rounds. Out of a total of 58 fights at the end of his career in 2005 - 44 were won by knockout. During his prime in the 1980's, 33 out of 37 of his total prime fights ended by knockout - the remaining 4 were won by decision. Tyson went undefeated in his prime up until 1990. The reason for these quick knockouts and his success was because of his successful boxing style and he objective of imitating his opponents. Tyson was a very explosive fighter. Almost all of his opponents were much taller than Tyson (Around 6"0 to 6"5, which was normal for heavyweights), where as Tyson was only 5"10. Likewise, Tyson had a very compact body shape. This led Tyson to adopt the style of an 'inside fighter', since most of his opponents had a longer reach advantage in terms of punching range. Tyson was famous for having a very powerful punch. His Hooks and Uppercuts in particular - were devastating, even sounding different than other heavyweights when they landed. However, it wasn't just punching power that made Tyson one of the best. Tyson also had unusually fast hand speed/punching speed for a heavyweight of his size (on par with that of a much smaller middleweight). His combination speed in particular - was very fast, rather than his singular punches. He was also known to possess punches that were extremely accurate (including his combination accruacy in particular). During a single combination, it was rare for him to miss any shot within the combination. Tyson is also considered to bthumb|300px|left|Tyson hand speed (Shadowboxing)e one of the most elusive fighters in boxing history. Many of his opponents found it very difficult to hit him at either long or close range. This was because of his head movement and his ability to slip punches and 'bob and weave'. He was very fast at doing this - with very good technique, this is what Tyson primarily relied on for his defense rather than blocking or footwork. He would often launch a devastating counter-attack combination from his head movement. He would also use his head movement ability along with his Jab to get in close - especially against much taller opponents - often avoiding their long-reaching jabs via slipping while moving fowards - eventually cornering them against the ropes or clipping them with an oncoming swinging hook after a sucessful slip/weave. After Tyson slipped and dodged a punch he would always move closer. He would consistently apply a constant fowards momentum of punching pressure while weaving/slipping. The fact that he was moving in closer while doing this also made his punches even more powerful since he was moving fowards while punching (putting his entire body weight behind the punch). Everytime the opponent attempted to punch while moving away at a distance, tyson would slip/weave and move in with a flurry of quick combinations - making them pay for punching in the first place. Boxing critics also consider Tyson to have had a very good chin (he could take punches). Tyson also had a huge 20" neck which helped absorb punches. Tyson's primary strategy was to get in close and corner his opponents against the ropes or corner by using his footwork while 'cutting off the ring' in addition to pushing his opponent towards the ropes or corner (especially after a clinch). While trying to get in close, he would use a combination of head movement and Jabs to avoid his opponents punches. Once he got in close, he would launch a series of devastating combinations while still utilizing his head movement. He would usually launch 2 and 3-punch combinations. He would often hit the body first as a distraction, then go for the head at the end of a singthumb|300px|left|Tyson punching power (Heavy Bag)le combination. Many of his combination would also often end with an extremely powerful wide swing/haymaker. One of his most used and famous combinations was a body uppercut followed by a head uppercut with the same hand. Another commonly used combination was a left hook followed by a right hook to the head (often both haymakers), he would also commonly utilize 3 body hooks into a head hook. Many of his combinations from the outside were set-up by the Jab while lunging fowards or by weaving fowards. He would also use his fast head movement to avoid his opponents punches when close, then return with a powerful and fast combination. Tyson would also often attempt to launch a sneaky uppercut or hook while in the clinch if the opponent attempted to tie-up within the clinch - if they made the mistake of not holding his arms down. He would also often launch a sneaky close-range hook right after a clinch had been seperated by the referee. thumb|300px|left|Mike Tyson Elusive Ability Tyson masstered the Peek-a-Boo style, in which he always used. This is where both hands are kept directly infront of the chin (just below the eyes). This allows the boxer to punch or counter the opponents head faster, protect his own head faster, and utilize head movement more effeciently and comfortably. The Peek-a-boo style also has a psychological effect on the opponent, as they are not sure if they should attack the head or not. This style was invented by the legendary Cus D'Amato. Cus D'Amato was Mike Tyson's trainer during his amatuer career and early professional career. He was also Tyson's guardian when he legally adopted Tyson after his mother passed away when Tyson was just 16. However, Cus D'Amato died in November 1985. However, it was Kevin Rooney who primarily trained Tyson during his prime since Cus D'Amato was usually too sick. It is also important to note that Kevin Rooney was mentored by Cus D'Amato. Tyson was also notorious for intimidating his opponents - even before the fight had become. Tyson often claimed that "I had already won the fight before it even started since most of my opponents were afraid of me". However, many people consider one of the reasons for Tyson's downfall (1990 onwards) was because of the way in which his boxing style slightly changed (though this was only one of many reasons). Around this time, Don King convinced Tyson to fire his trainer Kevin Rooney (who had trained him since childhood - along with his guardian Cus D'Amato and occasionally by Teddy Atlas). However, by then, Rooney was his only trainer. Cus D'Amato had passed away in November 1985 and Teddy Atlas was long gone with no releationship with Tyson during his professional career. Teddy Atlas only trained Tyson on a very occasional basis during his amateur career, when Tyson was 15, he and Atlas got into a bitter feud and Atlas eventually left D'Amato's gym because of this. His new trainers tweaked Tyson's style which many Boxing critics consider to be a mistake. From 1990 onwards Tyson was no longer a technical fighter on the inside that he used to be. He would no longer put fast, explosive, and powerful combinations together and choose his targets carefully. Likewise, Tyson did not utilize his head movement/slipping/weaving abiltiy as much as he used to (though he still did to some degree). From this point on, Tyson also admitted that he did not train as hard as he used to because of the many problems in his personal life - outside of the ring. From 1990 onwards (after his prime), Tyson became a very impatient Boxer that looked only for the 1-punch knockout, this got him intro trouble quite alot, with some instances ending by knockout due to Tyson's impatience and bad/lazy defense. Overall, Tyson was also considered to be a very exciting boxer to watch because of his combination speed, power, explosiveness, and ability to end fights quicly by KO - especially in his prime. Boxing Style Summary: Offensive Infighter, Swarmer, Pressure-fighter, Combination Puncher, Counter-puncher. Best Punch Techniques: Left Hook, Left Uppercut, Right Uppercut. Best Skill Traits: Power, Combination Speed, Reflexes, Accruacy, Bob and Weave/Slipping Speed and Technique, Counter ability, Intensity/Ferocity Notable Opponents: Lennox Lewis, Evander Holyfield, Trevor Berbick, Michael Spinks thumb|left|300px|Mike Tyson vs Trevor Berbick (prime) thumb|300px|left|Mike Tyson in his prime Record Category:Boxers